Statements of the Week

Even after his dramatic split with the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO),    Cacak city mayor Velimir Ilic regards Ravna Gora as a common shrine. "I must now apologize for instructing you to vote SPO, whose deputies have joined forces with the ruling socialists. We have reforms and nothing but reforms on our agenda, which is supported by the genuine opposition in Serbia. We are preparing for this year's annual procession to Ravna Gora. We will hold no political speeches, it will be a historic lesson dedicated to the Serbian freedom fighter. As Vuk Draskovic said, we expect to see both him and Slobodan Milosevic at Ravna Gora in May, especially after their joint visit to Kadinjaca (the daily Blic).

Aleksandar Djaja, a columnist of the Belgrade daily Borba, maintains he is so good at what he does that he could profit from his moral and professional qualities anywhere in the world. But he won't. The rising star of world journalism has decided to stay and preach patriotism. "The methods used by some so-called independent media to bring shame upon their own country are more aggressive and unethical than methods used by the two superpowers during the cold war. The ironic thing is that those who profited the most from independent media in this country are inviting its economic and political collapse. A different breed of people, guided by the national and spiritual survival of the Serbs, as the most important issue of their era, are welcome in any corner of the world. Nevertheless, they decided to stay here and help their country. The first lot can go whenever and wherever they want, provided that someone wants them. It seems that the so-called independent media think that they can sell their idea of truth any day of the week and twice on Sunday", Djaja explained.

Zoran Djindjic, the Democratic Party leader, reacted to a story published in VREME's previous edition, explaining why his party is falling apart. "It is good to see that Serbia has a few people who can read and write, but not everything that is written should be published", Djindjic said. He recalled that January was a month when many other parties were going through a crisis, and that some 8,000 people consequently walked out on their parties and joined his party. "That was the biggest score the Democratic Party ever made. What the weekly Vreme published speaks of journalism falling apart rather than my party falling apart", Djindjic said (the daily Nasa Borba).
After the inauguration of Cedomir Antic, one of the leaders of the 1996 students' protest, as the Democratic Party spokesman, Zoran Dnjindjic, said: "This is a small step for Ceda but a big step for democracy" (the daily Blic).